Are speakers really ArcheoTech? Ask any Shovelbum and they’ll say yes. Everyone listens to music either in the field, back at camp, or in the hotel room. With these speakers you’ll feel confident that they will last through a day of excavation and still be able to sound great while having drinks in the hotel parking lot at the tailgate of the work truck at the end of the day.

The speakers have a rubber exoskeleton that wrap around the body and a protective layer of hard mesh. This allows them to be durable and portable and the rubber helps amplify base tones. The unit, at just seven inches long and three inches wide, is also slightly waterproof which means you can concentrate on covering your unit when it rains, rather than running over to protect the speakers.

There is a “Smart Sensor” that CNET reviewers thought was gimmicky and unnecessary but you can be the judge of that. The sensor is supposed to allow for hands free operation of the unit. With a wave of the hand you can adjust the volume and change tracks. Might be good if you have mud-caked gloves on and don’t want to hear more Lady GaGa from the fresh-out-of-college rookie.

Since the speakers connect via Bluetooth just about anyone on the crew can send music to it allowing for a variety of playlists throughout the day or project. There is also a protected headphone jack in case you don’t want to run down your phone battery

The Braven BRV-1 Speakers are rugged and portable. The retail for the same price as the Philips Shoqbox but I couldn’t find cheaper prices on Amazon for this model.

The BRV-1 is the most rugged model Braven makes. “BRV” stands for “Battle Ready Vehicles”. I’d like to see if they live up to their name in an archaeological environment.

The BRV-1 is water resistant from rainfall and water splashing but cannot be fully immersed in water. So, no playing whale sounds under water to mess with humpbacks. That’s just not nice.

It has a 6W speaker output which is pretty impressive for that size. You can also use the speakers as a noise-canceling speaker phone. Not really much use for that in the field, unless you want to get all the crew chiefs together and talk to the boss on the phone. With all those capabilities, Braven claims a 12-hour battery life.

Let me know if you use, or have used, either of these speakers in the field. Also, let me know if you use other speakers that you’re happy with. I want to know about ones you either use in the field or in the hotel room, or both. If you really like them I’ll throw them up on the blog and maybe someone else can enjoy them too!